Over the past few decades, Pakistan has made significant progress in improving its education system. The country expanded free and compulsory education, increased female attendance, and saw major reforms like merit-based teacher recruitment and public-private partnerships (PPPs) to enhance teaching quality. Punjab, for example, doubled the number of
KARACHI: Apropos the letter “Ghost Teachers” published on September 19, 2024, the issue of ghost schools is another sad reality in Pakistan’s education system. These schools exist only in name, with buildings left abandoned and teachers still collecting salaries without fulfilling their responsibilities. However, the problem goes beyond
DEPIx is a comprehensive tool that measures the performance of education systems at the district level, focusing on key outcomes such as access, learning, and equity, processes such as governance, and inputs like public financing and infrastructure. The DEPIx is structured across five domains: Infrastructure & Access, Learning,
With nearly 67 percent of its population below the age of 30, Pakistan stands as one of the youngest nations in the world. This vast youth bulge presents us with a golden opportunity to capitalise on a potential “demographic dividend,” while also presenting the challenge of providing adequate
AS a mother of two school-going children, the record-breaking heatwave experienced in Karachi this year has heightened my concern about the growing impact of climate change on our children’s health, safety, and education. According to the Asian Development Bank, heatwave days in Pakistan increased by 31 days annually
This report provides a focused analysis of girls’ education in Pakistan for the academic year 2022-23, drawing on data from the Pakistan Education Stascs (PES) report(s). It highlights key trends and developments in education indicators. While significant progress has been made in improving facilities and maintaining enrollment levels,
The prevalence of child marriages in certain parts of Pakistan, as exemplified by the recent reports of 45 underage girls being married off in Khan Muhammad Mallah village of Dadu in Sindh province, is utterly unacceptable. The directive issued by Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah to launch a
Someweeks ago, the Federal Directorate of Education and Professional Training organised a wonderful summer fiesta for schoolchildren, with a wide range of skill-based workshops, seminars, lectures and activities. This kind of immersive experience with creative writing, financial literacy, digital technology, and so forth, is the urgent need for
The 2023 Census conducted by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics released its complete report in July 2024 indicates that the total population of Pakistan is 240 million out of which the population of children under 18 is 112 Million (47% of the total population). Children Population (under 18)
The costs of depriving meritorious individuals of entry into the healthcare system manifest as healthcare breakdowns. Though the announcements of academic opportunities and exams in a transparent socioeconomic and political setting might elicit excitement among prospective aspirants, the same in our part of the world ignites cascades of
Imagine this: A bully enters a man’s dwelling and forces him to sign over ownership of a large piece of his land at gunpoint. To lend this theft the thinnest air of legitimacy, the bully throws the landowner a bone and puts a sale price on the papers
Twenty-six million. This figure has been doing the rounds in print and digital media for quite some time now. This is the total number of out-of-school children and adolescents (OOSCA) in Pakistan, the second highest in the world, according to the Pakistan Education Statistics. This number is 39